Some Private Colleges Offering Deals for Students

The cost of a college education continues to increase faster than inflation; a phenomenon that’s roiling family budgets and spurring calls for action on Capitol Hill. But with a little digging, parents and students can find cost-cutting deals and programs that make the paper chase a lot more affordable.

While public colleges and universities are hiking tuition to make up for dramatic reductions to state higher-education funding, private colleges — which usually receive no state funding — have greater latitude to cut costs. That’s one reason that average annual tuition increases at public colleges have been more than twice as large as those at private colleges over the last decade, according to the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center.

As more students question whether to take on massive tuition debt only to end up with degrees but no jobs, many private colleges are offering discount deals that cut, freeze or even eliminate tuition altogether for incoming students.

Duquesne University in Pittsburgh is slashing tuition by 50 percent for freshmen who enroll in the school of education this year. The price cut is good for four years for students who stay in the program.

High-achieving freshmen who enrolled at Seton Hall University by Dec. 15, 2011, will get a tuition discount of $21,000 — or 66 percent — for the 2012-13 school year. The same deal probably will go to freshmen for the 2013-14 school year.